Sermon Tone Analysis
Overall tone of the sermon
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Introduction
Text: Ecclesiastes 9:1-12
Solomon in the book of Ecclesiastes is giving us a series of wake up calls.
“Wake up Call” = a person or thing that causes people to become fully alert to an unsatisfactory situation and to take action to remedy it.
WAKE UP CALL: You are going to die.
(So we should live accordingly)
Now we all intellectually know this idea.
But many of us try not to think about this too much.
It’s too morbid or scary.
But Solomon wants us to think about our lives.
They are vanity (a vapor)—shorter than we’d like to admin.
You are Going to Die
Death is Inevitable (Eccl.
9:2
Solomon lays out something for us that is absolutely certain: our death.
Death is Evil (Eccl.
9:3) —a result of sin, not natural … but it’s cause is sin.
“To die well means I realize death is not simply something that ens to me; it happens to me because I am a sinner.
I realize in a sense I cause my own death.
To die well means I realize every time I see a coffin, it preaches to me that the is broken and fallen and under the curse of death—and I am a part of it.
It means I realize that I am not owed three score years and ten by God.
It is only because of his mercy that I am not consumed today.
(David Gibson)
Solomon is not just saying that death is evil
He's saying that the way death does its work is also evil.
It takes the good along with the bad, and where is the justice in that?
It makes no sense.
For anyone to experience death is an outrage.
It is not the way the world was meant to be.
Yet how much bigger an outrage when you see a young person cut down in his prime.
Death is the Close (Eccl.
9:4-6)
Death is the end of life
Solomon is saying it is better to be alive because once we die, there’s no more doing.
We have one opportunity, one chance in this life.
Then it’s over.
So he quotes an old proverb, “a living dog is better than a dead lion.”
— In other words, its better to be a mangy old dog (and alive) then a regal lion (that’s dead)
Why? Once we are dead, all opportunities are over.
Hebrews 9:27 — “… it is appointed for man to die once, and after that comes judgment”
Death’s time is uncertain (Eccl.
9:11-12)
So Live Accordingly
Solomon at the center of this passage gives us the proper response to the reality he has just painted.
Illustration: Dead Poet’s society (Carpe Diem)
This is not a call to live seizing the day (carpe diem) but rather corem Deo, “before the face of God”
What does this look like?
Enjoy and be thankful for the good things (Eccl.
9:7)
Do all for the glory of God (this is what he made!)
Illustration: Taste buds!!
Not needed
Problem of using pleasure as the end not the means
Illustration: Screw Tape Letters
Take care of yourself (Eccl.
9:8)
Keeping your garments white kept you cool in arid sun.
Oil on the head kept the skin from drying out and cracking
In other words, take care of your body, soul, and mind while you have it.
Love those in your life (Eccl.
9:9)
Especially your spouse and those closest to you
This is “your portion in life and in your toil” … in other words, our loved ones, friends, neighbors … they are the most important thing in our lives.
They are what matters
Illustration: Steve Jobs … wished he had spent more time with his family
Live in abandon (Eccl.
9:10)
In light of our impending, inevitable death we should live life to the fullest, live life with abandon — for the glory of God!
Illustration: Francis Chan Illustration: Olympic athlete plays it to safe on the balance beam
John Piper, “Don’t waste your life!”
Conclusion
Though death is the end of our life here “under the sun”, it is not the end of the story.
God has destroyed death and will eventually throw it into hell with Satan himself.
However, in light of our death how are we living?
Questions:
Are you ready to die?
Do you know where you will go at death? (gospel proclamation)
Though our story is not over when we die, our life is.
So are you ready to die?
Are you “seizing the day” “before the face of God”?
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